Forum on Housing and the Mobile Workforce – The Labrador West Experience Municipalities of Newfoundland and Labrador

• Incorporated in 1961 • First elected Council in 1981 • Well engineered community that was designed and built by the local mining company • Layout in accordance with principles of good land-use planning • Has all the amenities of other urban regions in the province Where we are and how to get there

• Airline service by 2 major carriers to Airport • 570 km by road from Baie- Comeau,QC • 1,200 km by road from south coast of Labrador • 415 km by rail from Sept-Iles, QC (year round port) • Iron Ore Capital of . • Our slogan is "Built on Industry -- Thriving in Nature“. • We are extremely proud of our mining heritage and yet we are so much more! • A vibrant community with good recreational programs and facilities, majestic scenery, hunting, fishing and snowmobile adventures are just some of the many attractions.

Impacts on Labrador West

• Labrador City is surrounded by major iron ore deposits making available land for industrial and residential development an issue • Little to no advance indication of demand for housing & other needs • Necessary to permit development of temporary accommodations to house demand for construction workforce • Significant increase in demand for supply and service sector • Increase in demand on all municipal infrastructure and services. The new Boom of 2009-2014

• Virtually no new housing starts for 25 years prior 2007 • New residential development introduced 350+ new dwelling units (2007-2014) • Two new motels opened in 2011/2012 • One surplus school converted to an apartment complex and another for office use • New 52 unit apartment building constructed • Approximately 1,000 temporary accommodation units erected (pre-fab modular construction) Residential Developments Temporary Worker Accommodations $25,000 - $1200 house $1200 - $549,000 rental - same homes sell for $325,000 for sellhomes same – 2010 1,200, aptbedroom 1 i.e. bedroom $1,000 per now rates month! $5,000 rental house and $2,000 2 bedroom now selling homes foreclosed, homes of 2016hundreds $700 decreased 200,00, rents thanless Hundreds of homes vacant for approx. 8 yrs. 8 approx. for vacant homes of Hundreds $5,000 for companies and banks sold by Homes untilrents apartment affordable and homes Affordable 2005 Last big Bust 1982 Bustbig Last Boom Bust Cycle Bust Boom      

Town of Labrador City Affordable Housing

• “Affordable” housing is a relatively new phenomenon ▫ Prior to 2008 some of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing units were sold due to high vacancy rates • The municipality found themselves in unfamiliar territory • Demand for housing in general is greater than supply • What is affordable? ▫ Definition of affordable in Labrador West is different than the rest of the province • What do we do? Municipality and Affordable Housing

• The economy has historically been cyclical ▫ Developers have been risk adverse • The municipality has been working with developers to find solutions to close the gap on housing in general ▫ 294 units have been developed since 2006 ▫ Applications and agreements are in place for an additional 575 units • The municipality has been working with stakeholders: ▫ Formation of the Labrador West Housing and Homelessness Coalition ▫ The municipality is an active member ▫ Short and long term focus Progress….. • First Habitat build in Labrador • Two families selected • Plans for Habitat build next summer

• Submission to NLH for funding for affordable housing project • Funding was secured for a Housing Support Worker post completion of Community Plan

THANK YOU THANK QUESTIONS?

Town of Labrador City